Behind the Scenes: Date Night at the Fast Forward Film Festival

Shane and I aren’t always up for just the typical date night. We love to mix things up a tad and dress fancy and step out of our comfort zones. I’ve been looking to expand our blog for a while now, and decided to reach out to a few events that I thought may want me to write about them. Little did I know, that one event in particular would actually accept my offer – The Fast Forward Film Festival. We got to be “press” for a night – and step out of those comfort zones.

This was the 4th year of the Fast Forward Film Festival taking place in Rochester, NY. A two-night event that showcases local film artists and focuses on environmental awareness. The first night on April 13th (which we did not attend), took place at the Little Theatre and was somewhat of a teaser event for the films that would be considered for the awards. They showed a sneak peak of the films and it was a cheaper event to attend ($8). The second night on April 14th, was the gala, screening, and awards ceremony at the George Eastman Museum. This was more of an upscale and pricier event ($30) where people enjoyed educational exhibits, recycled artwork from local artists, light vegan fare and complimentary wine followed by the showing of 19 films and the presentation of awards. These films were judged in Youth and Adult categories.

Driving to the event, as the 2018 ice storm was hitting, we weren’t sure what to expect. As we arrived, we took the chilling walk to the main entrance of the George Eastman Museum to open the doors and be completely overwhelmed. There were so many people – it was an amazing turnout! We easily checked in and were greeted by many of the event staff and shown where to put our jackets. We quickly did so and got our photo taken in front of a beautiful handmade backdrop of fake grass and real air plants. These photos were printed and given to take home at the end of the night.

We did a quick walk through the crowds to grab some food and a glass of complimentary wine by Constellation Brands.

The food consisted of vegan pizza, mini grilled cheeses, crackers and cheese, and more. My favorite, the dessert table, was filled with mini cupcakes, brownies, and cookies by Get Caked Bakery.

There were beautiful recycled art pieces inspired by what Andrew Stern (Founder of Fast Forward Film Festival) might say, “from garbage to gala” strewn about the venue. These art pieces consisted of cardboard with beautiful paintings on them. There were even ice sculptures.

A band was playing near the entrance and there was a board near them where people could write their “visions of the future”.

The educational exhibits at the reception included Flower City Pickers, Impact Earth, SunCommon, and World of Inquiry School. These exhibits were set up for anyone wanting to learn more about their mission and what they are doing for our community in Rochester.

As we waited for the screening to begin, we took a quick walk through part of the George Eastman Museum, which was opened to the party goers to tour. It was a neat experience to walk through the museum at night without a lot of people or tourists. Everyone was too preoccupied with the party going on to really want to walk through a museum like we did. This was our first time at this museum and I wish we had more time to walk through the entire place, but it was just too big and we didn’t want to miss getting good seats for the screening. Definitely somewhere we would like to come back to for our next date.

As the screening was about to begin, everyone was ushered into the Dryden Theater. We took our seats in the back row on the first level which ended up being a little more private so we could whisper our thoughts to one another after the screening of each film. Andrew Stern (founder) did some announcements and discussed the history of the festival as well as each filmmaker considered for an award. He also introduced Ben Larson onto the stage for a quick speech as well.

The Filmmakers noted ranged from beginners and amateurs to experienced pros and everything in between. Each filmmaker would be judged by both the audience and the jury. The jury consisted of film and TV directors as well as environmental engineers. The Youth category winner by the jury would bring home $1,000, and the Audience Choice Award winner would bring home $500. The Adult category winner by the jury would bring home $2,000, and the Audience Choice Winner for that category would bring home $1,000.

Each film shown had to be under 5 minutes. To make a lasting impression, this must have been tricky. Some made you laugh, some made you emotional, and some were downright educational and proved the mission of the event – to raise awareness of our environment. A few of the educational films such as The Light Conversation, discussed the problem with the street lights in Brighton, NY. Or the Superhouse which showed the creation of one of the top 5 most airtight houses in the world. My favorite was The Arboretum Up the Street by Michael Tomb. This film was sort of a documentary showcasing the local parks in Rochester and their history. The cinematography I thought was beautifully done and was one of those videos I would watch in a college class. The story behind it made me proud to be living in Rochester where generations of my family before me have grown up.

<– This video was created with my new Canon® PowerShot SX620 HS Camera. We had no idea this was being filmed until after the event!

As we threw in our votes for the Youth and Adult Category, we snuck out a tad early to beat the rush (and because we’re boring early birds). We grabbed our printed photos of ourselves and a beautiful air plant to take home. After the awards ceremony concluded, the party goers that stayed had an after party with more hors d’oeuvres and a signature cocktail.

*Update:

The Fast Forward Film Festival takes about 365 days a year to plan and Meg Lindsay, the Event Manager, sees it from start to finish. We were lucky enough to have a small chat with Meg to learn more about the event and what goes into it all. We also got a behind the scenes run through with Lauren Heary, the Content Marketing Manager. Both Meg and Lauren are part of The Cause Collaborative crew which help plan The Fast Forward Film Festival. The Cause Collaborative, an event planning and marketing agency based in Rochester, helps organizations such as the Fast Forward Film Festival reach more people and do more good within the community. The team did a fantastic job and we cannot thank them enough for giving us this opportunity to see what The Fast Forward Film Festival is all about.